Music Composed by
Rating: *** 1/2

Ok, confession time. Elektra is the first score I’ve ever heard from Christophe Beck. I’ve known the name for awhile now. I’ve heard good things from people who were into Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, but in general, the projects Mr. Beck has scored have all been ones I’ve stayed away from — far, far away. Let me just name off a few of the gems this poor man has been made to score (thank you imdb): Big Fat Liar, The Tuxedo, Cheaper by the Dozen, Garfield, A Cinderella Story, Little Black Book, Taxi, Without a Paddle, The Skulls 2, and the unforgettably climactic The Skulls 3 — (I didn’t even know there were sequels to The Skulls). I don’t know what sins Beck committed in his last life, but they must’ve been pretty bad. Well, Elektra is no Citizen Kane either from what I’ve heard, but at least it’s not a horrible comedy, a Hillary Duff vehicle, or a direct-to-video sequel. Finally, it looks like Beck’s been given a shot at scoring a big-budget comic book film on the silver screen. With Elektra he gives it his all — and how!

I’m not sure why the powers-that-be decided a spin-off from the dreadful Daredevil was needed, but it probably had something to do with Miss Jennifer Garner and her wonderful, wonderful curves. Who doesn’t want to see a film that features both a lovely, lovely sai-wielding young lady in red leather and a wolf jump out of a dude’s stomach? I know that’s been my fantasy since I first saw Alias.

Christophe Beck

Needless to say, Beck approaches this film with the utmost seriousness, and creates a score that I’m sure transcends the film it’s attached to. The score is very much a mixture of several different styles and instruments (both real and sampled) combined together and cooked for forty-five minutes. Beck starts with the orchestra as the base, naturally. Then there’s all kinds of hip rock elements, electronica elements, and a lot of eastern percussion. What makes this score interesting, though, is that they’re all perfectly combined together. There’s few moments, if any, that are orchestra only or synth only.

Recording the orchestra must have been only the first phase of creating the score. The amount of work that went into mixing and processing all the live elements with the MIDI/synth elements must’ve been quite painstaking. Of course this isn’t new to modern film scoring, but it’s done with so much flash in Elektra, it’s worth noting. It pays off too, as the Varese album is one of the most creatively mixed scores I’ve ever heard. The panning alone is fantastic (This is a score to enjoy with headphones). Beck uses a multitude of different filters to process various instruments, and has lots of fun using envelopes (check out track 11 “Escape from McCabe’s” where a synth and brass swell quickly grows and then suddenly cuts out to nothing a spilt second before the orchestra explodes again.) The second track “Demarco’s End” is the best example of the advanced post-recording techniques and mixture of instruments/styles: instrument tracks with little reverb against those with lots, the wild panning, the asian drumming turning to hard rock—with a full string section underneath… If you want your superhero scores with more themes and less nifty tricks, turn back now.

That’s not to say there are no themes in Elektra. The lady has her own theme. Beck gives it to you right away, seventeen seconds after you hit your play button. It’s a nice theme for a nice girl who’s trying to save the world- stately, yet gentle. It’s not the focus of the score though, and rarely comes out fully in the action cues. You mostly hear it during soft, tender moments in the score. Also, there’s a few motives that pop up for the bad guys, and as you can guess- these are the themes that are present in the action cues, of which there seems to be a lot of on this album.

There are some very nice, gentle (aka girly) moments on the disc with soft strings, piano, and synth pads (”Just a Girl” and “Elektra’s Second Life” being my favorites), but for the most part the score is surprisingly quite active. It’s not all rough action either… there’s a lot of motion: steady eight-note motion. Asian drumming figures largely into this score with many of the cues containing heavily accented eight and sixteenth note figures. And it’s not just percussion with these pulses. Beck often let’s his synth and guitars mimic the drum patterns. Often it’s a blend of instruments creating the groove like in the exciting “Wolf Run” where Beck throws horns and low brass into the mix.

Along with the drums, Beck also uses a lot of Asian gongs, metallic bowls and chimes. The aptly titled “Gnarly Gongs” is one of the many groove-tastic tracks that make use of a veritable gamelan of percussion. And as long as we’re mentioning instrumentation, Elektra is another score to make use of the duduk. I’m not sure why Beck uses duduk (it often states Elektra’s theme) but its use here isn’t as grating as other scores recently that have overused the instrument.

Let’s not leave the orchestra out of this review, though. Track 13, “The Forest” could’ve easily been re-named “Gnarly Horns.” Something damn exciting is happening in the forest. (I think I’ll wait until I’m home sick and channel surfing to find out.) Beck’s brass writing is excellent throughout and quite muscular. The strings get a work-out as well with lots of extended techniques used that may remind some listening of Elliot Goldenthal or Don Davis. The finale cues “Kirigi” and “Hedge Maze Brawl” are quite spectacular with all of the different elements I’ve mentioned above coming to a head.

Needless to say, Elektra gets a full recommendation from me. The album is the perfect length, although I think some of the best cues are too short. Buyer beware, though. If you want a superhero score with strong themes and traditional orchestra, Elektra will be a disappointment as there’s nothing traditional about it — other than the fact that it does have some thematic and motivic ideas running throughout. The main titles aren’t powerful like John Williams’ Superman. The final cue contains a slight swell , but mostly ends with a thud, unlike the grandeur of Danny Elfman’s Batman. Make no mistake, though — this score is very original and to my ears, very fresh. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Beck. (Originally posted February 19, 2004).

Music Composed and Produced by Christophe Beck; Conducted by Mike Nowak; Orchestrated by Kevin Kliesch / Add’tl by Richard Bronskill; Sample Design and and Programming by Mark Kilian and Bryan Carrigan; Recorded and Mixed by Casey Stone; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Varèse Sarabande, (302 066 633 2); Release Date: January 25, 2004

01. Main Title (1:31)
02. DeMarco’s End (2:07)
03. Ferry Crossing (3:19)
04. Insomnia (2:11)
05. Ninjas (4:04)
06. The Hand (1:23)
07. Gnarly Gongs (1:15)
08. Stick (2:04)
09. Just Sit Quietly (1:04)
10. The Kiss (1:39)
11. Escape From McCabe’s (2:20)
12. Tattoo (0:49)
13. The Forest (1:47)
14. Wolf Run (1:58)
15. Typhoid (2:17)
16. Just A Girl (1:49)
17. Homecoming (1:54)
18. Candle Trick (1:41)
19. Kirigi (2:29)
20. Hedge Maze Brawl (2:36)
21. Elektra’s Second Life (4:55)

Total Playing Time: 45′12